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In the opening scene of [
68 Scorpion, Part One] a crossbow is seen on the bench. Leonardo was employed as a painter and engineer, often with the emphasis on the latter, as when Cesare Borgia employed him as a military engineer over several months in 1502 in a number of military operations in Romagna. (It should be noted that, as ever since ancient times and until fairly recent times, during the Renaissance science and the arts were not considered mutually exclusive nor necessarily as distinct subjects.) The crossbow seen in [68 and 69 Scorpion] in the Holo-workshop is likely intended to infer the Maestro's production of designs for a giant crossbow on wheels and a giant multi-firing crossbow machine.
[68 Scorpion, Part One]
Leonardo's drawing for the giant crossbow on wheels, shown below, is dated c.1499 (although one source conjectures 1480-82), which would accord with the actual model appearing in the Holo-workshop set in 1502.
large crossbow, c.1499, pen and ink drawing with wash, from the Codex Atlanticus, folio 53 verso-a-b, located in Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy
The rapid-firing crossbow machine, shown below, was intended to be operated by a single man while another placed the crossbow darts in place prior to each firing. Four crossbows were meant to be fired at once. It was intended to be powered by a treadwheel worked by several men. It would have been difficult to aim.
rapid-firing crossbow powered by men on a large treadwheel, 1480-82, pen and ink drawing with wash, from the Codex Atlanticus, located in Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy
It is unlikely that such devices could have been easily built given the construction materials at the time, and as designed they would have been unwieldy.
| The screenshot from [68 and 69 Scorpion] also shows a preliminary drawing for Leonardo's most famous painting of all, the "Mona Lisa". |   |
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